HIS CHOSEN GIRL
chapter thirty nine-10 hours is a long time
[Your P.O.V]
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TEN HOURS EARLIER.
"Imperio!" Ginny yells.
The forceful blast of magic from Ginny's wand sends me falling to my back, expecting pain. Surprisingly, I feel none. I feel nothing. Every thought flees from my mind and suddenly, my mind is filled with a bunch of new thoughts, although I don't think they're my own. Scared, I try to resist, but the more I push back, the more struggle I feel.
So I let go.
I hear a voice in my head. At first, I think it's my voice of reason, aiding me in a time of need. But after it starts telling me the plan, I feel a small part of myself, the part of myself that feels so far away, the part that's fighting, get scared. Still, I follow the voice's commands, not having much of a choice. Eventually, everything gets blurry, my mind shuts down completely under the spell and the past thing that I register is a scream.
-
I jolt awake with a gasp. Terrified, I scan my surrounding to see that I'm sitting in the girl's lavatory. I reach for my wand and hold it out, paranoia consuming me. I'm shaking and I'm crying and I have no idea why.
As I stand up and stare at myself in the mirror, I jump from shock. My hair is tangled, I'm soaked and covered in dirt, and my ankle has a very sharp pain with each step I take. What happened? What did I do? Why don't I remember?
I close my eyes and put my hands in my heads. Think, (y/n). You need to think. Walking to the sink. "Open." I hobble over to the sink.
"Open," I say. "Open. Open!"
I turn around when I hear movements from behind me. Ginny sits up. She'd been laying down a few feet away from where I was just moments ago. Terrified, I point my wand at her and she quickly holds up her hands in defence.
"(y/n) no it's me! He's not in control anymore," Ginny says quickly, sounding much more like herself.
Overwhelmed with the variety of emotions I'm feeling, I lower my wand shakily, but I don't tuck it away completely. I take a moment to process what exactly the girl's just told me.
"What do you mean? Who's not in control anymore?"
"Tom," Ginny shivers. "Tom Riddle."
"Ginny, what are you talking about?" I ask confused. "Who is Tom Riddle? And what do you mean controlling you?"
"Controlling us," Ginny corrects.
"Whatever," I say, exasperated. "What just happened because I'm losing my mind right now trying to remember."
"Don't bother," Ginny says. "When you're under the Imperio curse, it's no longer you who acts, who thinks, it's him. You won't remember, not everything at least, most times not even anything of importance. He's trying to get back into the chamber. He wants to continue what he started last time he was at Hogwarts, that's what I've gathered at least. Last time though, I think he finally got in."
My eyes widen. "Into the chamber of secrets? How?"
"Through you," Ginny answers.
"Through me?" I ask bewildered. "But how? I don't know how to get into the Chamber of Secrets."
Ginny shakes her head violently. "I don't know, (y/n). But he's always asking me about you. He's been watching you for awhile now."
I run my eyes, feeling faint. "Why are you only telling me this now?"
"He wouldn't let me, he wouldn't let me remember. It's only now that I remember his questions, there's still so much I don't understand."
"Ginny, how long has this been happening to you?" I ask the girl, clearly worthy of my trust seek how she herself shakes in terror from just a few feet away.
"Since we got to Hogwarts."
Ginny gets tears in her eyes and I pull her into my arms. I hug her tightly, rubbing her back comfortingly. "We're safe right now, Ginny," I tell her though I myself don't even believe it. "You don't have to go through it alone anymore. But I need you to give me more answers. You need to tell me everything."
"It's hard to resist the spell. Actually, it's practically impossible. But every time I see or hear something specific, something that I saw when I was under the spell, if I focus really hard, I'm able to remember what I did the night before. Like when I saw the message on the wall, I remembered writing it," Ginny explains.
I stare at her in shock. "That was you?"
She shakes her head quickly. "No!" She protests, hurt. "Not me! Him, acting through me!"
"Ok!" I say, trying to calm her down. "Let's see, the only thing Im able to remember is walking up to the sink and saying open, but when I tried that just a few minutes ago, nothing happened."
Ginny looks excited for a second. "That's good! You're able to remember already. I've got nothing, I think that he stopped using me after he had me Imperio you," she suddenly looks extremely guilty. "I'm sorry about that, by the way."
I shake my head, dismissing her apology. "It's fine." The two of us sit in silence for a few moments before eventually I turn to her, one last question, one I hope she'll know the answer to. "Why us?"
She shrugs to my dismay. "I don't know. For me, "It all started after I started writing in the book."
"What book?" I ask.
"My diary. I started writing in it and a boy named Tom Riddle started writing back. It seemed cool at first. He was nice to me. But then he started using power against me. I couldn't remember where I'd been, what I'd done," she starts tearing up again. "I'm just trying to figure out what's going on."
"It'll be ok," I tell her although really Im speaking to the both of us. "But I think you need to get rid of that diary."
She nods her head. "I will tonight."
I try to be supportive of Ginny, she's been going through so much and no one has known. I Try to comfort her, but I can't help but to pester her with the questions surfacing as I try to assess the situation. "Ginny, why does Tom Riddle want to return to the Chamber of Secrets?"
Chamber of Secrets.
Before Ginny answers I get another memory from the night before.
Jumping down into the passage. Walking through the corridor of secrets.
Ginny sits up straight and looks at me with anticipation. "Did you remember something?"
I nod. "Jumping into the passage and walking through some corridor. You're right. I think Tom used me to get into the Chamber of Secrets." I look at Ginny baffled.
She walks up to one of the mirrors and wipes her eyes while splashing cold water on her face so it doesn't look like she's been crying.
Moaning Myrtle floats over and giggles her obnoxious giggle. "My, my. You don't look too well. Rough night?"
"Can it, Myrtle," I say standing up.
"Ooh! You are quite feisty! If only Colin were here to agree," she giggles again then floats into one of the stalls and disappears.
I look at Ginny concerningly. "Ginny."
"(y/n) calm down," Ginny says quickly.
"Ginny. Why did she say that?"
"(y/n) calm down we don't know that we've got anything to do with it."
I sigh, nodding my head. Hating this feeling of constantly feeling on edge. Hoping it's something aim not going to have to get used to.
I didn't realize that I'd been in the lavatory all night. It's morning now, and everyone's in their way to the hall for breakfast. Each group of people we walk by is talking about Colin Creevey.
"Didn't you hear? Colins been petrified."
Petrified.
Walking to the sink. "Open." Jumping down into the passage. Walking through the corridor of secrets. Walking up to the entrance. "Open." Walking into the Chamber of Secrets. Stroking the giant creature. Instructing him to attack. Catching a ride with it on its way up. Seeing Colin with his camera, waiting until he notices, commanding the snake to kill. Hearing the scream. Returning to the lavatory. Jumping off the creature. Checking on Ginny. Seeing she's asleep. Feeling tired. Going to sleep.
There are tears in my eyes when I tune back into reality. "I did it. I petrified Colin Creevey."
Ginny's eyes grow wide with fear. "You what?"
"It all came back to me, like you said it would. I petrified him."
"How?"
I shake my head. "I don't understand how."
By now I'm hyperventilating, I'm finding it hard to breathe. Ginny glances around us, wary of the looks we get as I continue having a panic attack in the middle of the corridor.
"(y/n). You've got to get it together. You left the corridor late and never came back, your friends are probably worried. We can't draw attention, no one will understand what we're going through. They'll think we're crazy if we tell them what happened. We'll surely be the ones to face the blame. We can't be suspicious."
I nod, struggling for air but forcing myself to breathe. "Ok. Let's go get breakfast, then."
She nods and the two of us walk into the hall together. I take another deep breath once I step through the door. I pull Ginny to the end of the table and kneel down beside her as she sits down.
"If I don't go sit with my friends they'll know somethings up," I tell her. "I'll meet you later today, we've got to figure this out. Get rid of the diary, Ginny."
Ginny nods. "I know, I will. I'll see you later."
I stand up, ready to leave but I turn to her once more before I walk away. "Ginny, do you ever get used to it?"
She shakes her head. "It gets worse every time."
I nod. Stupid question.
I walk over to my friends, thinking up about a billion scenarios in which they question me about what happened last night. I prepare my story. Ginny was right, no one can know. I need to protect my friends.
"Hey guys," I say as cheerfully as I can, sitting next to Harry, who I realize I never actually apologized to last night. "What are we talking about?"
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